"This week we are announcing our new Firefox OS developer preview phones because we believe that developers will help bring the power of the web to mobile. These developer phones are being developed by Geeksphone in partnership with Telefonica and Geeksphone." Loving the orange.

Negative:
1) The mobile market is notoriously difficult to break into, especially now that all the "easy" avenues to gain marketshare have been taken advantage of by Apple and Android.

2) It is unclear if Firefox has the developer outreach muscle to bootstrap the OS.

3) Aiming for emerging markets doesn't immediately imply success. What medium to long term strategy does Mozilla have? I'd be interested in their long term roadmap.

4) Can they get more OEMs on board? Do OEMs see a need for this vs Android or low end Windows Phones?

Positive:

1) Firefox is competing in a segment of the mobile market that isn't as entrenched, and lends itself nicely to new comers. Most of the up and coming OSes without deep financial pockets are targeting this because its the next frontier in the mobile OS wars.

2) With Firefox's use of HTML5, there is a lower barrier to entry. Has this ever translated into success beyond on paper? Has there been one HTML based App platform which showed any sort of tangible benefits? I'm skeptical, but optimistic here.

3) Nokia broke into emerging markets in a big way again with their Asha Series40 line, especially their Asha Touch range (blurs line between feature and smart phone). Based on Mozilla's initial hardware, this could be an Asha competitor. If anything, it proves the idea has legs.

I don't think Firefox OS will be successful overnight. If they're lucky, we'll see shoots of growth a few quarters to a year from now. I expect this to be something they gradually work away at, and there is a lot of room for Mozilla, or anyone else to slip up.